Thursday, December 20, 2012

Yesterday my knitting group met before Christmas and thanks to Michelle we had a Secret Santa exchange. We could either buy a gift under $20 or make something that would take an afternoon to make - but no more. It was such fun to see the handmade gifts and knitting related gifts being opened.

Kathy drew my name and she made me this amazing Wilma pillow.

Wilma's not quite sure what to make of this. "Are they making a tribute to me?"

Yes Wilma - it's always about you. You're so adorable that we pay tribute to you always. :D

My gift was easy - easy to come up with an idea and easy to make. Michelle had hinted that she wanted one of my owl hats. Ask and ye shall receive!

I didn't get pictures of the rest of the gifts - but it was lots and lots of fun. We have a very generous and talented group of ladies. And we even managed to get a little bit of knitting accomplished.

Joanne managed to finish her knit camel for a Christmas present. Isn't it a hoot?

Betsy made us all some homemade vanilla extract similar to this one. It will come in handy for my future baking escapades. Mmmmm.

Every Wednesday is a great day because it's Knitting Day... but this was an especially fun day. Merry Christmas everyone! Ho! Ho! Ho!

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

I keep this blog for upbeat, positive, feel good topics. I don't use it to promote politics or comment on current events. So I won't do that here today either. But like everyone I've been affected. I haven't blogged. I've been very sad. I haven't done the dishes.

My friend who has been through a traumatic loss put it best when she told us to turn off the TV, radio, and computer and go out and be among the living.

I think that's great advice!

So after I do my dishes, I'm going to look for the good in people. I'm going to hang out with my friends. I'm going to unplug.

Oddly enough, I've been watching Showtime's The Tudors series about the life of King Henry VIII and his six wives as a distraction. It's a great series and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Who knew that a little Renaissance torture, hanging, beheading, drawing, quartering, disemboweling and burning at the stake could be an uplifting alternative to the news?

And in positive news, this weekend, Primogeniture and K held a blood drive (previously scheduled and not a knee-jerk reaction). It was fabulous to see youth getting up at the crack of dawn to volunteer to do a good thing. I'm very proud of them - and all those who helped save lives.

Here are the youth organizers before 7:00 a.m on a Saturday morning doing a good deed. How great is that?

Friday, December 14, 2012

You saw my recycled shirt gift bags earlier this month. They were the dry run for the holiday gift bags. I finished them last night.

These are the small bags. I gave BF the larger bags last week so he could wrap his gifts.

Here's a close-up of some of the bags so you can see the festive themes.

I'm so pleased with the way they turned out. These are mostly for under my tree - so they'll be reused year after year. It doesn't mean that they will NEVER leave the house for those special gifts - but they're intended to be recyclable, sustainable permanent gift bags. They were quick and easy to make and I will definitely be making more of these in the future.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

This past summer, two members of our knitting group moved out of the state of Connecticut. It decimated our knitting group. We knew about Lisa's imminent departure for two years. So in January, we started planning a group farewell gift and celebrated with a farewell luncheon where we delivered our friendship blanket. It was wonderful. In contrast, Estella, found out she was moving and was gone in less than two weeks from start to finish. Our heads were still spinning with the news and we barely had time to get our acts together to manage a farewell breakfast. We knew we wanted to also do a big friendship gift, but there just wasn't time.

So last week, our expedited (yes - five months is expedited in my opinion for a group project!) gift was finally shipped to Estella in a festive holiday shipping box. Estella wrote to say that a surprise arrived and she put it under the tree.

Someone immediately came up with the idea to have her open up her gift via a Google+ Chatroom (or Skype). So at our Wednesday knitting group, we dialed both Lisa and Estella into our joint video chat and watched Estella open her gift.

Estella was tickled pink. She makes blankets for her family, and they always fight over who gets the blanket. This one will be just for Estella. She's already told them! And each time she wraps up under her friendship blanket, she'll be getting a hug from each and everyone of us in her Connecticut knitting group.

Details: Sampler Blanket pattern from Westport YarnsYarn: 5 skeins Cascade Yarns Eco+ - SapphireNeedles: US Size 10.5Knitters: five friendsBlocker: one friendCrocheters: two friends (one for seaming and one for edging)

Enjoy Estella! All eight of us wish you all the best and miss you dearly!

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

We have several themes on our Christmas tree based on everyone's interests and hobbies. So you're probably not surprised to know we have several Mets ornaments. In fact, BF has more than enough to field a team...

And we even have one baseball ornament that's not Mets related, but definitely fits here.

Sunday, December 09, 2012

You've known about the ugly Christmas sweaters for years now. Perhaps you even secretly own one (or two). But what happens if you're Jewish and you don't really want to go to a party wearing an ugly Christmas sweater? That's what happened to Carin Agiman. So she took matters into her own hands and started Geltfiend Chanukah Sweaters!business to share the ugly sweater with all her Jewish (and even non-Jewish friends). The only problem - the sweaters are adorable. Check out Carin's very clever kickstarter video from this summer where she sought capital to get her business off the ground. She did it! She raised enough funds to get her sweaters into production and get her business off its feet. Perhaps you've already seen her Hanukkah sweaters out and about. If you haven't maybe you'll be the first one in your family to own one.

Happy Hanukkah my friends. Congratulations Carin on such a great business model. Here's wishing you every success.

Saturday, December 08, 2012

After my post earlier this week, I decided I needed a nativity set. I wanted something adorable and meaningful, but didn't really want to buy something that would cost a small fortune. Then I found the perfect fit.

Friday, December 07, 2012

My Westport Young Woman's League Craft Clutch meets at our former member and pie baker extraordinaire's store - Michele's Pies - once a month for crafting and chatting. We're mostly knitters, but we have some stitchers, menders, crocheters and coffee drinkers (who don't craft at all). Today we were greeted by Michele's husband - Kelly's Gingerbread House masterpiece for their store competition. Isn't it amazing?

Just along the roofline you can almost make out the miniature blinking lights!

The stainglass windows are amazing - made with multi-colored Jolly Ranchers. There's a light inside the gingerbread house so the stainglass really shows up.

Go to Michele's Pies in Westport this holiday season for some great baked goods and enjoy the wonderful sight yourself. It's so fun and whimsical. Great job Kelly!